McDonald's disclosed plans Wednesday to return money to shareholders in the next two years and will expand its refranchising efforts, following the trend of its burger rivals. At an investor conference, the fast food joint's CEO Don Thompson said McDonald's will return $18 billion to $20 billion to shareholders from 2014 through 2016. McDonald's also has plans to franchise out at least 1,500 restaurants currently owned by the company by the end of 2016, a 50% increase in activity from the past three years.